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I’m getting bored with these trip posts, so today let’s take a break to talk about what’s been going on around here lately.

Are you as happy as I am that Fall has arrived? It’s still hot in Pennsylvania, but there’s that bit of crispness in the air to show that the seasons are changing. Yay!

I am feeling especially thankful these days to be back into our school and home routines. I do love me some routines! Taurus much?

Soccer season is in full swing so our Saturday mornings are spent on the field. The weather has been perfect for this so I can’t complain. The boys have been playing hard and I love to watch them.

In addition to Soccer, they both signed up for a running program that culminates in a 5k. Littlest said that he wanted us to run the 5k as a family. I foolishly agreed. This week, I broke out my super fashionable knee brace and 80s music mix and restarted the Couch to 5k training. Mom guilt sure makes you do some crazy things!

I really fell off the gluten free train while we were away and it’s been soooooooo hard to get back on. Every day I start strong, then stuff like this happens…

I know at some point I really need to commit to the diet again, but WHY IS GLUTEN SO DELICIOUS?!?!!!

Speaking of delicious, the boys and I continued our Saturday dinner tradition with an Asian inspired evening of Dumplings, Soy & Ginger Glazed Cornish Game Hen with Bok Choy and Shitake Mushrooms, and Mango Sorbet. Yum. They are seriously upping their game.

And in stitching news… I’m discussing Halloween stitching in the October issue of CrossStitcher magazine, available on newsstands now (Haha. I’ve always wanted to say that)! It feels these days like I write about cross stitching more than I actually cross stitch, but blergh… such is the life of a working mother.

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I leave for Paris tomorrow. I realize it’s totally obnoxious to say, but I am dreading this trip big time. I get very anxious about traveling and being away from my family. It’s the worst.

We had such a great few days though. I will write a post and read it when I am homesick.

I have been keeping up with the Couch to 5K training, even though it’s not quite as fun anymore. On Saturday, the boys wanted to go to the playground, so I ran around the school while they played. It is much harder to run outside vs. on a treadmill!

Littlest practiced skateboarding while I ran. He has been determined to get good enough to go to the skatepark with the older kids. I admire his determination!

It was a busy few days with indoor soccer and playdates and work. We were happy to stay home for a game night. Bingo!

Of course, you know who got into the action.

In other news, we finally got our first little bit of snow!

Littlest got a snowboard for Christmas. He is dying to use it and has been trying all kinds of tricks to make it snow; including the snow dance (point your forefingers up like you’re saying #1 and dance), sleeping with a spoon under your pillow, and putting your clothes in the bathtub at night. Unfortunately, the snow wasn’t enough for actual snow boarding but the forecast is calling for a possible blizzard this weekend. His techniques may be working!

The boys have really been into that show “Cupcake Wars” on Netflix. On Monday we decided to have our own Cupcake War. I baked up a batch of cupcakes and they worked to develop flavors and decoration.

It was so much fun and I couldn’t believe how focused and creative they were.

We had flavors such as S’mores, Peanut Butter & Banana, Apple & Maple, and Tropical Coconut.

I thought that the results were quite beautiful.

Biggest’s work:

And Littlest’s:

Of course, they deserted me when it was time to clean up the kitchen (but it was worth it).

After the exhausting Cupcake Wars, we enjoyed some down time on the couch watching YouTube videos and cross stitching. I just noticed that we were watching cat videos while our cat was watching us!

Someday I will learn to take better photos, but that someday isn’t today.

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I’m enjoying this routine of blogging each day. Maybe it is obvious to you as the reader, but I never really have a plan about what to write. Usually I look through phone pictures from the last few days and a theme emerges. Today there is no such theme, so brace yourself for some randomness.

I am now on Week 2 of Couch to 5K. It’s still fun even though I wasn’t really feeling it yesterday. My knee started hurting so I bought myself a snazzy new knee brace. I felt like an official runner talking about my “knee injury.” Then I got to the gym and the girl on the treadmill next to me was running SOOOOO FAST, like lightning fast! Then I stopped feeling like an official runner and more like the middle aged out-of-shape mom with a knee brace listening to the 80s station on Pandora that I am. Le blergh.

I’m glad to be stitching again. I started the cat, who is currently looking like a zombie cat with creepy eyes. I kinda wish that I had changed him to grey to look like Charlie, but that would have required thinking and planning.

One of the things that I most appreciate about my family is that we are always laughing. What a silly bunch! The other day, I asked Tom to fold some laundry. This is how I found him when I walked by later. I guess it’s hard to resist warm laundry from the dryer.

I know that I’m his mom and therefore biased, but isn’t he such a good artist? 9 years old!

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Yay! Friday is here! We survived the first week back at work and school!

On Monday, I started a Couch to 5K training program. The 2 completely bizarre things about this is that 1) I absolutely hate running but 2) I am enjoying it so far. 2016 is so weird.

Last night was Biggest’s Winter Orchestra concert. Last Spring, the Orchestra concert did not go well at all, due to a terrible bout of stage fright. We were a bit worried going into this one, but HE DID IT! I am so happy for him. Doesn’t it feel sometimes like being a Mom is a constant emotional roller coaster based on the ups and downs of your kids?

So, being a new year and all, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to my theme for this year. 2015 was Believe. 2014 was Connect.